Objective To summarize clinical characteristics of infradiaphragmatic craniopharyngioma and explore its prognosis factors. Methods The clinical date, imaging and follow-up findings were analyzed retrospectively in 58 pa?tients with infradiaphragmatic craniopharyngioma who underwent surgical operation in our hospital. Factors related to the postoperative quality of life of patients were analyzed using multi-factors Logistic regression analysis. Results There were 45 minor cases with infradiaphragmatic craniopharyngioma, of which forty cases (88.9%) had preoperative visual im?pairment. Preoperative endocrine examination revealed that 21 cases (46.7%) had pan-hypopituitarism and 24 cases (53.3%) had pari-hypopituitarism. In addition, preoperative MRI showed that 38 cases (84.4%) had tumor involvement in/on the saddle and the average tumor size was(4.53 ± 1.71)cm. There were 13 adult cases, of which 8 cases (61.5%) had preoperative visual impairment. Only 1 case (15.4%) had pan-hypopituitarism, 7 cases had pari-hypopituitarism and 5 cases had normal pituitary function. Ten cases (76.9%) had tumor involvement in/on the saddle and average tumor size was(2.92 ±1.18)cm. Multi-factors Logistic regression analysis revealed the patient's age (OR=0.090, P=0.090) and tu?mor size (OR=8.350, P=8.350), preoperative vision loss (OR=0.086, P=0.086), preoperative hypopituitarism (OR=0.198, P=0.198) were the relative factors affecting the quality of life. Conclusion Infradiaphragmatic craniopharyngioma is
more common in minor patients. The clinical features and prognosis are significantly different between minor patients and adult patients. Age, size of tumors, preoperative vision loss and hypopituitarism of patients are associated with poor prog?nosis.

Objective To evaluate the expression and clinical significance of Periostin (POSTN) in craniopharyngi?oma. Methods Forty-two patients with pathologically diagnosed adamantinomatous craniopharyngioma involving the floor of 3rd ventricle were retrospectively analyzed. The correlation between expression of POSTN and outcome was studied. Results POSTN was expressed in stroma of craniopharyngioma tissues. The expression of POSTN was not associated with the postoperative recurrence (Z=-0.236,P=0.813) while was associated with the degree of the adhesion between tumor and floor of 3rd ventricle (r=0.685, P<0.001), postoperative Hypothalamic Status Scale (r=0.569, P<0.001) and Body Mass Index (r=0.594, P<0.001). Conclusions POSTN may predict the degree of the adhesion between craniopharyngioma and 3rd ventricle floor. The high expression of POSTN may indicate the worse hypothalamus function.